<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Elimination by OldGuardianNewTricks</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27163967">Elimination</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/OldGuardianNewTricks/pseuds/OldGuardianNewTricks'>OldGuardianNewTricks</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Old Guard (Movie 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 00:29:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>682</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27163967</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/OldGuardianNewTricks/pseuds/OldGuardianNewTricks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>“Nile was sweating. Not profusely, she didn’t think anyone else would notice yet but she could feel a bead of sweat forming slowly on her forehead. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>She weighed the shovel in her hand- this was taking too long. She was over thinking it and dammit she was a Marine. Well an ex- Marine but she couldn’t let herself become distracted by thoughts of her previous life. Not when she was so, so close to completing her task.” <em></em></em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>This is my first attempt at fan fiction. Well the first I’ve published. These guys just got in my head. This is a bit of silliness but there is a mention of a detached body part- nothing graphic. Mild tension but all is not what it seems. </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>Any errors are my own, as is any bad writing.</em>
  </em>
</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>55</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Elimination</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nile was sweating. Not profusely, she didn’t think anyone else would notice yet but she could feel a bead of sweat forming slowly on her forehead. </p><p>She weighed the shovel in her hand- this was taking too long. She was over thinking it and dammit she was a Marine. Well an ex- Marine but she couldn’t let herself become distracted by thoughts of her previous life. Not when she was so, so close to completing her task. </p><p>Andy had waived this particular test. She had looked into Niles’s eyes and said</p><p>“It’s just not for me kid- not this time”</p><p>Then she had disappeared into the night. </p><p>Booker had failed. He was sat back glaring at the very stick of dynamite that had brought his doom. He had however not looked for solace in the bottom of a bottle and that just showed how far he had come. The love of their, albeit weird, little family had been better for him than exile and they had called him back within weeks.</p><p>Joe had also failed. Shockingly his piece of rope had slipped. One moment he was ok- the next it was down and Joe, warm and loving Joe was out. Nile had fully expected Nicky to react to this, to reach out at the very least and card his fingers through Joe’s curls. </p><p>Nicky hadn’t moved. </p><p>He hadn’t moved for an age and now he was barely blinking, his eyes focused in front of him and his breathing slow and steady. Nile had watched him earlier with bated breath as he performed some sort of magic with a pan in his hand. He was, as Joe said and she readily agreed, a wizard in the kitchen but this! He had moved almost imperceptibly slowly. Breathing out before he moved and then not taking another breath until he had finished. His hand had been as steady as a rock. He had moved back as gracefully as he did anything else, crossing his arms and looking directly at Nile with that passive, beautiful face. </p><p>Nile took a short sharp breath and started her move. She glanced at Nicky who was still looking at her calmly but, there, a slight tick in his jaw. At the beginning she wouldn’t have seen it but she could read all her family’s tells now. </p><p>Slowly, gently and with her blood pounding in her ears she reached forward and hung the little plastic shovel onto the saddle of the mule. Almost instantly the mule’s back legs bucked up and the calm of the room shattered. </p><p>Joe yelled whilst sweeping Nicky up into his arms and Booker sniggered into his coffee. </p><p>Nile looked wounded for a moment and then grinned</p><p>“Fine, I am never playing Buckeroo with a sniper again.” </p><p>Nicky gave her one of his warmest smiles and embraced her.</p><p>“You’ll give me a run for my money one day Nile. Speaking of which...”</p><p>And he pocketed the cash stacked at the centre of the table. </p><p>“Tell you what” </p><p>Nile said excitedly </p><p>“There’s a Twister mat in the cupboard in my room- bet I can beat all of you oldies at that.”</p><p>An ominous silence fell across the room. Joe gulped and looked a little sick. Booker slammed his coffee onto the table a little too hard.</p><p>“I thought, I thought we’d got rid of that thing”</p><p>Joe whispered.</p><p>Nile gazed between all of them- another moment of her not having a clue what was happening. </p><p>Nicky had gone still again. He took a deep breath and said</p><p>“It’s been a while” </p><p>“No!” </p><p>Yelled Joe and Booker together. </p><p>Nicky swallowed and in a small voice said </p><p>“The rules clearly said each player must try to place the called-out body part on a vacant circle of the called-out colour.. it said nothing about the body part being attached to the player at the time” </p><p>He turned stiffly on his heel and marched out quickly followed by Joe. </p><p>Booker looked at Nile and said </p><p>“Andy banned Twister, and Monopoly” </p><p>Nile sighed- games night was never going to be the same again.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>There we go. Told you it was a bit of silliness. Hope someone got a bit of a smile from it. </p><p>Loving this fandom so very much. </p><p>Am on Tumblr as OldGuardianNewTricks so come say hi and squee with me- if you like.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>